CIVE #302

Lab #2: Wheatstone bridge for Strain Measurement

Date of Activity: Sep, 12, 2019
Due date: Sep, 26, 2019
Submitted By:

1. Purpose:
Whenever a beam is loaded strain is observed in the beam however minute. Numerous methods
are there to measure this strain. This lab deals with determining the strains of a cantilevered
beam under the action of different Load cases using an assembly of Wheatstone bridge. The
strain will be measured through strain gauges which is typically a wire of known resistance
attached to bottom and top surfaces (Tension & Compression) of the member.

2. Equipment and materials:

a. Wheatstone Bridge
(Jumper Wires and color coded resistors of range 15 – 1000 ohms on a breadboard)
b. Strain Gages & strain Recorder
c. Beam & Loads

Cantilevered Beam Loads

Strain Recorder Bread board (Wheatstone bridge)

3. Procedure:
a. The Wheatstone bridge was made by Professor on breadboard using the colored
coded resistor and wires.
b. The Strain gauge was bridged to two arms and a datum was established by turning
the wheel to adjust the needle. The reading was recorded to be the reference for the
tension and compression controls.
c. The values of strains were noted for each successive load cases.
d. For compression control the steps were repeated.
Figure3: Cantilever Beam

4. Data & Calculations:

TENSION COMPRESSION
Case : 1 Case : 2 Case : 3 Case : 1 Case : 2 Case : 3
Strains Point Uniform Combined Point Uniform Combined
Load Load Load Load
Theoretical Strain
182.07 39.415 221.48 182.07 39.415 221.48
(µ in/in)
Datum
3350 3330 3330 3585 3580 3550
(µ in/in)
With Load
3550 3375 3570 3400 3540 3320
(µ in/in)
Strain
200 45 240 185 40 230
(µ in/in)
% Difference 9.85 14.2 8.36 1.61 1.50 3.85

5. Required Discussion :
1. The beam was solved for shear force and bending moment diagram and the theoretical
strains calculated.The datum values comprised of the strains prior to first loading. That
was to adjust any already present strain (deviations)The % difference shows the deviation
of experimental value from theoretical value. Maximum of which was obtained for the
tension zone in uniformly loaded case.
A selection between the full bridge and half bridge assembly solely depends on the
effectiveness and easiness of use.Relatively low errors in Tension strain gauges compared
to Compression makes the method and excellent choice for calculating Tension in beams.
A constant drop in current with increase in resistance shows a inverse relationship
between the two.Any errors can be attributed to pre-stressing (from previous
experiments), Uneven distribution of load or strain gauges not completely aligned.
6. References:

Hibbeler, Russell C. 2017. Mechanics of Materials 10th Ed. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

https://www.ni.com/sv-se/innovations/white-papers/07/measuring-strain-with-strain-gages.html

Ştefănescu, D. M. (2011, March). Strain gauges and Wheatstone bridges—Basic instrumentation

and new applications for electrical measurement of non-electrical quantities. In Eighth
International Multi-Conference on Systems, Signals & Devices (pp. 1-5). IEEE.